J.J. Redick Interview

The NBA Season's About To Start And We're Catching Up With Los Angeles Clippers Sharpshooter J.J. Redick

When talking about J.J. Redick’s wrist game, most people would probably think we’re referring to his unparalleled three-point shooting in the NBA. However, Redick has quietly curated one of the nicest watch collections you’ll ever come across. Patek Philippes…FP Journes…vintage Rolexes…it’s a horologists wet dream.

We caught up with the Los Angeles Clippers shooting guard to talk about his uncanny collection, see what he recommends for under $500 and to find out what wristwear he’s got picked it out just in case the Clippers do in fact have a championship parade next season.

How did you get into watches?
Growing up, I didn’t know anyone that was a watch collector or into watches, but I was always kind of curious about them. Before the NBA Draft, I knew I was going to get drafted, and I wanted to commemorate that by buying a watch.

The day before the draft, I was in New York City, walking up Fifth Avenue and I stopped in the Wempe boutique, and I wanted to buy a Rolex. That was the one brand I had heard of at that point. I ended up buying a Rolex Datejust; I want to say the rest is history but it took about three or four more years for me to really get into watches.

I heard that the NBA lockout is what pushed this passion a little further. Is that right?
I do attribute it to the NBA lockout. I had a lot of free time on my hands. I got into all of these different watch blogs and watch websites. About four years ago is when I really started to educate myself.

And you got into trading watches too — was that through forums? That’s pretty hardcore.
Up until that point, I had bought some watches and I remember I had a Cartier Santos 100 XL. I believe it was with the chronograph and about 50 millimeters, and I was thinking ‘This watch is too big — I’ll never wear it. What am I supposed to do with it?” That’s when I discovered these amazing online forums where you can literally buy, sell and trade watches.

So I started doing that and through those online forums, Panerai was the first brand I got into. I bought and sold and traded right around a dozen different Panerais over the course of a couple of years. I met some interesting folks through Paneristi.com and I really got immersed in this online watch community.

‘Interesting’ is an interesting adjective to use. How interesting were these people or transactions?
I’ve done some weird, weird transactions. I’ve met a few people in parking lots to sell them watches. That’s definitely happened. One time, we were in Austin at this coffee shop. I was with my wife and publicist Kylee, and they had no idea this watch deal was about to go down. We’re sitting on a bench in a parking lot drinking our coffee and this random guy pulls up in a Mitsubishi Eclipse. He hops out and he’s got a wad full of cash. I pull out a watch out of my pocket. I give it to him, he looks at it, I count the cash, he walks away. Chelsea and Kylee are completely stunned watching this go down, wondering “What in the hell is going on?”

That’s hilarious. I’ve done some trading in forums myself — with colognes, though, not watches — and I have to ask, aren’t you ever worried about getting burned with a fake or a knockoff?
No question. I’ve never been burned but the best piece of advice you see online is buy the seller, not the watch. Generally speaking, when I’ve interacted with people through my e-mail or private messages on a forum, you can often sniff out the scams within two or three e-mails. I’ve backed away from 10 or 12 deals because you know that something is not right or something is fishy. They won’t send the right picture that you want or whatever it might be. You can always sniff it out if you’re smart.

How many watches do you have in your collection in total nowadays?
Right now I have 12. I’ve had as many as 19. Last fall, I was at about 16 and I sold about eight of them and then I was down to eight for a little bit. Right now, my focus is not about quantity as much as it is about quality. Basically, what I’m collecting now is vintage Rolex, Patek Philippe and FP Journe. That’s really the three brands that I’m most interested in. I do appreciate A. Lange & Sohne and IWC. I do own a Bremont watch that’s based in London; it’s a bit sportier. So I do appreciate other brands but in terms of what I’m collecting, it’s just the vintage Rolexes, Pateks and FP Journes.